Illuminated
by Pepper44
Summary: Growing up in a werewolf pack, Esther had learned to hate humans. However, all that will change when she is offered the chance to attend Hogwarts.
1. The Rabbit

It was well past midnight, but the Muggle shop was still open, the lights in its windows visible for miles in the rural darkness. _Food, cigarettes, etc_ proclaimed the neon sign above the entrance. A lone employee idled behind the till, fingers drumming listlessly on the counter, eyelids drooping. In his stupour, it took a moment for him to register the fact that the bell over the door had chimed, and someone had slipped inside with a gust of cool winter air. By then, the customer had disappeared down an aisle, out of sight.

Slightly more alert, the employee straightened and glanced at his watch: half past three. He raised his eyebrows; he wasn't accustomed to anyone showing up this late. Listening intently to the person's soft footsteps, the unfriendly notion of robbers flitted into his mind. In a nervous impulse, he reached beneath the counter to place his hand on the old hunting rifle that was kept there. The metal felt cold beneath his fingers, and reassuring.

But then, the customer wandered out from behind the shelf and he relaxed, rolling his eyes inwardly at his own stupidity. It was just a girl. A rather odd-looking girl, he reflected, as she wandered slowly toward him. It was difficult to determine her age beneath all the dirt and grime, and her painfully short and skinny frame in tattered, overlarge clothing spoke of life on the streets. He wrinkled his nose at the distinctive, dog-like odour that she was diffusing throughout the stop.

As she drew nearer, the employee couldn't help reaching again for the rifle. It was the way she was staring at him with her huge, pale eyes: so blank and devoid of feeling that it was creepy. No, disturbing, decided the employee, tightening his grasp on the weapon. Her bare feet made barely a sound on the tiled floor as she approached the counter and…smiled. Well, thought the employee, his heart thumping around wildly in his chest, you could call it smiling, but it looked more like she was baring her teeth, a mouthful of brownish-yellow teeth. What was more, the expression on her face was no longer blank, but (the employee cast around for an accurate word)… almost _feral_. He could have sworn there was a positively dangerous glint in her eyes.

'H-hello,' the employee managed, swallowing hard. 'May I help you?' Furiously, he told himself to get a grip. It was a little girl, for Pete's sake. It must have been the lateness of the hour playing tricks on him, making him jittery. The girl did not respond, only continued leveling her awful, appraising glare at him, so he tried again, 'Do you need help finding anything?'

She growled. That was the only way to describe the low, throaty noise that came out of her mouth, almost inhuman. The employee broke out in a cold sweat. His hands felt clammy, and his breaths uneven. She growled again, and he jumped slightly, then recoiled in his chair. The gaze she was fixing him with was now nothing short of terrifying, her eyes full of something like an animalistic greed, her lips pulled back to expose rotting teeth, her eyebrows lowered, her hands curled, claw-like, at her sides.

Shaking, the employee forced himself to speak. 'Listen,' he stammered. 'If you need something, I'd be more than willing to—,'

She pounced. In one fluid, animalistic movement, she launched herself over the counter and on top of the employee, driving him out of his chair sending him crashing to the floor. He didn't have time to even cry out before she had landed upon him, bony knees and sharp fingernails digging into his flesh, eyes flashing in triumph. In shock, the employee watched as she lowered her face to his neck: a sharp, searing pain, and then the warm wetness of blood. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't think, and then…nothing.

…

'Meat,' grunted Evan, holding up a large package of beef and grinning toothily.

Mortimer cast a glance in his direction. 'Take as much of that as you can,' he ordered, then turned to me, 'Bags. We need bags.'

'Yes, boss,' I replied, then headed down an aisle to where I remembered seeing them during my circuit of the shop. As I pulled down a couple of sturdy totes, something living caught my eye. Frowning, I looked again and smiled to myself when I realised that it wasn't a real rabbit, just a doll. I plucked the soft toy off the shelf and considered it for a moment. It was grey and long-eared, and felt warm between my hands.

'What's that?' Evan was ambling towards me, arms filled with packaged meat.

'Human toy,' I mumbled, shoving it back on the shelf. Mortimer appeared with a load of bright yellow rain ponchos, and together we shoved our finds into the bags, working quickly and methodically. There wasn't much else to take: Mortimer was very strict about the human things we used. Unprocessed food and certain clothing were okay, but most other things were off-limits. We didn't want to descend to their level—we were more advanced than they were, and didn't need such things as shoes and sleeping bags, chocolate and medicine.

'Look at this,' sneered Evan, grabbing the rabbit toy and showing it to Mortimer.

Mortimer cast it a disdainful glance. 'Human nonsense,' he said.

Evan's grin widened, and I knew that he was about to rip off the rabbit's head. 'Stop!' I yelled.

Both men stared at me.

'I want it,' I said. I didn't know why, but that was the truth. I wanted that human rabbit toy, as much as I wanted the beef. Mortimer and Evan continued to stare at me, and I was glad that my face was covered in so much muck, since I was sure that I was turning red. 'Give it to me,' I snapped, holding out my hand for it, but Evan lifted it out of my reach.

'It's a human toy,' said Mortimer in disgust. 'I thought you were over this sort of thing, Esther.'

'I want it,' I said again. 'I killed the human, so I should have what I want.'

'It's pathetic,' snapped Mortimer, taking a step towards me.

'You wouldn't understand,' I retorted, taking a step towards _him_. 'It's a female thing.' This usually made him shut up and give me what I want, because I was the only female with whom he spoke to on a regular basis, so he could only assume that I knew what I was talking about, but—

'No,' said Mortimer with finality. 'It is beneath you.'

Smirking, Evan wrapped his large hand around the rabbit's head and yanked. It tore off easily, revealing a load of white stuffing. Carelessly, he tossed the body and the decapitated head beneath the shelf. Anger, hot and ferocious, rose up in me like a tidal wave. I wanted to wrestle him to the floor and claw at his ugly face till I drew blood. But we weren't allowed to attack pack-members, so I bit back my fury. I could always find an animal to release it upon later.

Mortimer began dividing up the bags for us to carry. He was our leader, our alpha. We were supposed to follow his commands, and doing so was usually instinctive. However…he wasn't always right. Sometimes, I was right. I'd killed the human. I deserved a reward. There was another rabbit lying on the shelf. I wanted it. So before we left the shop, when the other two weren't looking…I took it. It felt warm and soft beneath my fingers. It couldn't be a human characteristic to feel fond of inanimate objects because I was fond of this rabbit… and I wasn't human.

…

We weren't that much of a pack. There were only six of us at the moment. There used to be nine, but Johnny and Hugh got killed by a couple of werewolf hunters, and Steve went off on his own. So we were down to six, and I was the only female.

We were a mixed bunch. Aside from Mortimer, Evan and I, there was also Nathan, Billy, and Marcus. Aside from Billy, we'd all been bitten by Mortimer. For me, it was when I was about four, and I had been the youngest. The others had been in their teens, and Billy had joined up a few years before when everyone else in his old pack got grabbed by the Ministry of Magic.

The Ministry was one thing we really had to worry about. Those human might have been dumb and pathetic, but they also had wands, which were dangerous. Mortimer had a wand, but he didn't like using it, and I had magic, but no wand, so we mostly fashioned our own weapons. We had knives and bows and spears, all made from scratch, but we knew that if the Ministry came after us, we were in trouble. So we hid. We moved around at night, sleeping in abandoned buildings and forest clearings during the day. What we had done tonight was rare—we seldom ever launched attacks on humans, to avoid attracting attention to ourselves. However, game had been scarce in the past weeks. We were planning on travelling north, to where we knew food was more plenty, but in order to do so we needed sustenance: it would be a long, hard trek.

'We'll start travelling tomorrow,' Mortimer announced when we'd returned to our camp. Our camp that night was a large, open field. It wasn't ideal, since there was no coverage, but it was in the middle of nowhere, so humans were unlikely to stray upon us. We would sleep during the day, curled up in the grass, and begin our journey as soon as the sun set. The full moon was not for another three weeks, so we would hopefully reach our destination by then.

'Did you have any trouble with the break-in?' Billy wanted to know. He was stretched out on the ground, gazing up at the stars.

'Nah,' grunted Evan. 'Just one old human.'

'Esther took care of him easily,' added Mortimer.

I felt my cheeks glow with pride from where I was sitting cross-legged against a boulder. It wasn't a small thing to be complimented by our alpha. As if he'd read my mind, Nathan put in, 'You're going to give her an overlarge head, boss.'

'It wasn't a big deal,' I said quickly, deflating. 'He was just one stupid human. He went down easier than most.'

Evan smirked. 'He was almost crying when she went after him.'

'It's quite strange,' muttered Marcus, 'that we used to be humans.'

Everyone turned to glare at him. No one really liked Marcus. He was always saying uncomfortable things like that. I was pretty certain that Mortimer regretted biting him—he was nothing but a nuisance.

'Shut it, Marcus,' snapped Nathan.

'We don't speak of such things,' Mortimer said to him coolly. 'The humans are beneath us, nothing more than glorified animals. We retain nothing in common to them. There is no purpose in dragging up shameful pasts.'

To his credit, Marcus looked slightly abashed.

Later, when everyone else was sleeping, and in Evan's case, snoring loudly, I pulled out the rabbit from where I'd stuffed it down my front. Thankfully, it had been too dark for anyone to notice the lump. Curiously, I wondered what I was supposed to do with it. Struck by a long-forgotten memory, I pressed the doll to my chest and wrapped my arms around it. A strange sensation of comfort and security washed over me. I closed my eyes. Considering how repulsive humans were, the toy was quite nice.

**A/N: How's that? Please leave a review and tell me what you think! (There'll be canon characters showing up soon enough) **


	2. Grabbed

The night was silent as I picked my way briskly down the Muggle motorway, the ground cold and hard beneath my bare feet. It was close to midnight, and we would be setting off shortly. As usual, it was my job to collect water. Six wooden canteens hung from straps over my shoulder, rattling a little as a breeze caused my hair to lift off the back of my neck. I couldn't have anyone discover the rabbit doll in my absence, so it was stuffed securely down my front.

A little while away, I could see that human shop. It might contain water, but it seemed to be surrounded by lots of strange yellow tape, which I didn't like the look of. So I continued padding down the road, ducking my head as a lone car sped past me, disturbing the stillness. Instinctively, I let out a low growl as its taillights flashed at me. A fierce impulse rose up in my gut, to attack, to launch myself upon the unnatural machine. I resisted, digging my fingernails into my palms. I heard Mortimer's voice in my head: _Unnecessary risks, Esther, control yourself. _

I calculated that I had strayed perhaps two miles from camp, with still no sign of any sort of lake or pond. Sighing to myself, I vaulted the motorway barrier and headed down the short hill, towards the densely packed trees at the bottom. This was another thing we weren't supposed to do: stray into a forest or otherwise uncivilised area by ourselves. There could be unfriendly packs in there, or dangerous animals that I couldn't handle on my own. But I was frustrated. I wanted to collect the water and head back already, and I knew that I was far more likely to find a freshwater source in the wilderness.

It was peaceful in the forest. I could hear the night sounds of chirping crickets and hooting owls, floating through the trees, bright stars shining through the canopy of leaves. But I moved slowly, cautiously, alert for any sign of danger. I scanned the dark forest floor for footprints, as I had been taught, keeping my other senses vigilant. Carefully, I listened to the rustling of branches in the wind, and then—someone breathing.

I froze, already tensing and leaning foreword into a defensive stance, curling my hands into claws and bending my knees, ready to spring. Somewhere close by, I could hear the low, harsh sound of someone breathing—a male by the sound of it. Silently, I retreated behind a large oak tree and crouched down, listening hard. There were footsteps now, heavy, crunching footsteps heading towards me. I wasn't frightened. If this was just one human, I could deal with him easily. And of course, I had the advantage of surprise. I didn't move an inch, hardly breathing as I waited for the stranger to appear.

He emerged from between two tall trees, alone and feeble. It took a moment for me to register the fact in the darkness: he was a wizard. Hot anger bubbled up inside me. There was no mistaking those long robes or that pointed hat. He paused just before my hiding place, and I felt my lips drawing back in a snarl, every cell in my body screaming to attack. I leaned foreword, about to pounce, to bring the wizard crashing to the forest floor. I had never killed a wizard before, and I could already feel the wetness of his blood beneath my hands, when—he drew out a wand.

I fell back, panting heavily, heart pounding wildly. A wand. That was not good: it was one thing I could not defend against. The wizard lifted his wand, glanced around, then said, '_Lumos_.'

The tip of his wand lit up, illuminating his pale, weak face. He cast it around the gloom, the beam only just missing me where I was still crouched, waiting, behind the tree. Seemingly satisfied that he was safe, he muttered, "_Nox_,' and the light went out, the darkness seeming thicker in its sudden absence. Hungrily, I watched as he removed a small cup from his rucksack. The human pointed his wand at it, paused, then whispered, '_Aguamenti_.' Then, he lifted the cup to his lips and drank deeply. _Water!_

The wizard was distracted, so I seized my opportunity. In one rapid, silent movement, I leapt out from behind the tree, bringing him to the forest floor with a small shout of surprise. The wand flew from his hand, and I landed upon his chest, snarling and growling, almost giggling with exhilaration. The weakling's eyes widened in fright. Gasping, he tried to dislodge me, but it was too late. I brought my mouth downwards and closed my teeth on his unprotected throat. Blood, hot and salty, gushed from the wound. The wizard choked, struggling feebly, flopping around, and then…he was still.

Breathlessly, I hopped off of him, wiping the blood from my mouth and grinning in triumph. Still trying to catch my breath, I spotted his wand lying abandoned on the ground. _A wand! _ I had never had a wand. Mortimer disapproved of magic, but…

I snatched up the wand. The polished wood felt cold and smooth beneath my fingers. Cautiously, I removed one of the canteens from my shoulder and pointed the wand at it, just as the human had done. Quietly, I said the word: '_Aguamenti_.' And instantly, the canteen was full to the brim with fresh, clear water. I had done it! I felt shocked, then excited. I was as magically powerful as any wizard! Hastily, I repeated the spell another five times, filling the remaining canteens with water as well. This was amazing!

Carefully, I strapped the canteens back onto my shoulder. Then, I considered the wand. I turned it over between my fingers, entertaining fantasies of powerful charms and curses. In my mind's eye there appeared an image of myself, the unbeatable werewolf, brandishing the wand, dominating thousands. I could protect my pack from anything, even the Ministry. We could come out of hiding, move around during the day.

Mortimer's face surfaced. He, of course, abhorred magic as he abhorred almost everything to do with humans. I knew that he carried a wand in his pocket, but in all the years I'd known him, he'd only ever used it three or four times, in emergencies. He would order me to snap this wand in half, and carry on my way. He would be horrified that I had even used magic to produce water. Mortimer was my alpha, and I was supposed to obey his commands. But…that image appeared again: Esther, the heroic werewolf, protector of her brethren, respected by all. My heart filled with happiness. I slipped the wand into my pocket. What Mortimer didn't know wouldn't harm him.

I turned around and began walking. I stepped over the human's body, wrinkling my nose, and carried on retracing my steps through the towering trees. My steps were quick, light-footed. My head was buzzing with exhilaration. When I returned to camp, I would tell the others of my killing the wizard. That was too great a victory not to share. In my head, I could already hear Mortimer's praises, and see Evan's admiring gaze. Nathan would shake his head in awe, and Billy would say something like, 'That's our Esther. We couldn't do without her.' I grinned in the darkness, then frowned. I could feel the wand pressing against my leg as I picked my way across the forest floor. The water—I would say that the water had come from a freshwater stream along the motorway. It would be there that I had encountered the wizard. No one would have to know of the forest, or of my spell, or of the fact that I had a wand.

The trees were becoming less dense, and close by I could hear a car speed noisily down the road; I was reaching the end of forest. I quickened my pace, canteens swinging on my shoulder, bare feet crunching down on twigs and leaves, and then—

'Stop right there!'

Immediately, I dropped into a defensive crouch, heart thudding. Overcome by giddiness, I hadn't been properly vigilant of my surroundings. Keeping close to the ground, I pivoted on my heels, looking around for the source of the shout. Was there one man, or more? Should I stay and fight, or flee?

The latter would have been more appropriate, for through the trees came crashing a group of five wizards in Ministry robes, wands up and faces set. I started to rise, to run, but a bright flashing light flew over my head and crashed into a tree, emitting a bang like gunfire. 'Don't move!' yelled one of the humans, and all five pointed their wands right at me.

_What do I do now?_ I heard Mortimer's voice in my head, 'Lie. Reveal nothing.' I could do that, I thought, swallowing.

Thinking quickly, I dropped back to my knees and held my hands out to the sides, palms up to show that I was unarmed. The wizards lowered their wands slightly, and drew closer to me in the darkness, forming a circle around me. I tried not to let my hatred and revulsion show on my face. These could be the bastards who snatched Billy's old pack.

'We were alerted of a breach of the Reasonable Restriction for Underage Sorcery,' snapped one of the men. 'I am assuming that you are responsible for performing the Aguamenti Charm?'

Before I could say anything, another of the men barked, 'What about the dead wizard back there? Are you responsible for that as well?' He pointed his wand more firmly at my chest.

'Don't be stupid, Stetson,' muttered another. 'She's just a kid. No kid could have done that. Looked more like a wild animal than anything else.'

My heart began to return to normal pace. These idiots did not realise that I was a werewolf, they were under the impression that I was a human like them. I could use this to my advantage.

'Well?' demanded one. 'What have you to say for yourself, girl? Performing a Charm six times in a row—you could be expelled from Hogwarts for something like that.'

'Please,' I choked out in a convincingly distraught voice. 'My father. He was…he was killed. I didn't know what to do. I couldn't do anything. Please…' I lowered my head and began to make sobbing noises, pretending to cry.

'Wait,' said one of the humans. 'That bloke was your father?'

'That's what she just said, Patrick,' snapped another. 'Have you gone deaf?' He turned to me and adapted a kind, paternal sort of voice, 'Hey…kid. It'll be alright. Calm down, yeah? It's fine.' He paused. 'What happened out there?'

'I d-don't know,' I gasped, keeping my head bowed to conceal the fact that I wasn't really crying. 'There w-was a massive animal. Like a bear. Or a lion. I don't know!' I let out a hysterical wail to heighten the effect. One of the men actually squatted down beside me and began patting me on the back; I had to fight to resist the urge to growl at him. Inane creature. However, in light of this tragedy, the humans had forgotten all about my use of magic. That was what I had been hoping for: humans were such predictable animals, so easy to analyse and imitate.

'What happened to you?'

I glanced up and squinted against the wand-light that was now being pointed at me.

'You were injured during the attack?' inquired one of the men in a concerned voice.

For a moment, I didn't know what he was talking about. Then, looking down at myself, I realised how I must appear to them. In my filthy, ragged clothing and unwashed hair and face, I looked positively alien next to them in their pristine robes. Inferior beings, Mortimer would scoff, in need of such finery to promote their own self-importance.

'Are you hurt?' someone asked.

'I'm fine,' I muttered. I noticed that all of their wands were now pointed safely at the ground. If I was going to launch an attack, or make a getaway, this would be the time to do so. Tentatively, I rose to my feet. No one tried to stop me. They were all gazing at me, a mixture of pity and confusion on their primitive faces. I took a step backwards.

'Where are you from?' asked one of them suddenly, the one who had accused me of killing the wizard.

'London,' I mumbled with a vacant shrug, meeting his eyes. His empty, foul human eyes. Again, I fought the urge to pounce.

'What's with all the canteens?' he demanded, at the same time as one of the others snapped, 'Leave her be, Stetson.'

The human named Stetson glared at his companions, then turned back to me. I was tensed, ready to run at the soonest opportunity, but with this scum's suspicious eyes on me, I had no hope of fleeing. He addressed me in a softer tone of voice, clearly hoping to convey compassion. 'We just need to know—,'

He was interrupted by a whooshing noise, and a tawny owl swooped down from above, proffering a letter. Stetson untied it from the bird's feet, frowning. 'What is it, Stetson?' asked one of the others.

Stetson unfurled the scroll of parchment and read rapidly. As he was preoccupied, I began taking small steps backwards, halting quickly when he glanced up. 'There's been a breech of the Statute of Secrecy in Cornwall,' he announced, and his gaze flicked back to me. 'We need to finish up here and go sort that out.'

'Right,' said another wizard, businesslike. 'Send that owl back to St. Mungo's, they can deal with the…with the body. What's your father's name?' he added to me kindly.

'Charles Mortimer,' I replied quickly.

'…and one of us can Apparate this young lady down to St. Mungo's as well,' he finished.

'What?' I mumbled. My heart rate was picking up again. What on earth was this St. Mungo's? It did not bode well.

'You'll want to be looked over by a Healer,' he assured me, 'and a Calming Draught wouldn't go amiss either.'

'No!' I cried out. 'I mean—I don't want to go to St. Mungo's. I'm fine on my own.'

These stupid, interfering humans, I thought savagely. They clearly wanted to drag me over to some hospital. Hospitals, I knew, were for humans. Not for superior beings like myself. The hot anger was back, and I grinded my teeth against it.

'We don't have time for this,' snapped Stetson. 'Tucker, would you—?' He jerked his head in my direction.

'Have you ever done Side-Along Apparition, love?' the man called Tucker asked me sweetly.

'I'm not going anywhere with you!' I cried out frantically. Oh hell, this was not good.

'Let's go!' called out Stetson.

Smilingly, Tucker closed his filthy hand around my upper arm. Gasping, I tried to twist away from him, pulling and struggling, but we turned on the spot and…were gone.

**A/N: Please, please, please leave me a review! **__


End file.
